Specialty items: You will need a switch motor kit, ready for assembly. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.

Cost

High ($100 - $150)

Safety

Minor injury is possible, so be sure to wear safety goggles. Adult supervision is recommended.

Abstract

Motors are used in many things you find around your house, like your refrigerator, coffee maker, and even a lawn mower. In this electronics science fair project, you will get to build a simple motor, using a kit, and then test how the number of batteries (amount of voltage) used to power the motor affects its performance.

Objective

The objective of this science fair project is to build a simple DC motor using an electromagnet and a reed switch. You will explore the effect of voltage on motor speed.

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Introduction

Motors that use direct current (DC) voltage are found in many familiar items, such as electric shavers, battery-powered drills, and the fans in laptop computers. DC voltage does not alternate with time. For example, a 9-volt (V) battery has a constant voltage difference between its positive and negative terminals of 9 V. A graph of the voltage at the positive terminal vs. time would be a straight line at 9 V. Alternating current, on the other hand, fluctuates between positive and negative values. The current that powers the outlets in your house is AC current. If you graphed the voltage supplied by the outlet, it would be a sine curve, alternating between positive and negative voltages about 60 times per second (sec). The number of times the AC current changes from positive to negative in 1 sec is called its frequency. The unit for frequency is the hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz is 1 cycle per sec.

In this science fair project, you will make a simple DC motor. The key parts of the DC motor are an electromagnet, a rotating shaft that has attached permanent magnets, and a reed switch. Let's go over each of these separately. In this science fair project, the electromagnet is made by wrapping wire around a nail. When a current passes through the wires that are wrapped around the nail, the nail becomes a magnet. When the current is turned off, the nail loses its magnetism. The strength of the electromagnet depends on the number of times the wire is wrapped around it and on the level of the current. When the electromagnet is turned on, it pushes against the permanent magnets that are attached to a rotating shaft. Permanent magnets' magnetism does not depend on electric current. If you are interested in experimenting with the parameters that govern the strength of electromagnets, check out this Science Buddies project: The Strength of an Electromagnet. You can also read more about all of the topics above in the Science Buddies Electricity, Magnetism, & Electromagnetism Tutorial.

The trick to getting the shaft to spin is to turn the electromagnet on in such a way that it pushes against the permanent magnets, causing the shaft to turn, and then turning the electromagnet off, so that the permanent magnet can freely pass by the electromagnet. This cycle is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. This diagram shows the principles of operation of a simple DC motor. The electromagnet switches on and off. When it is on, it pushes against the permanent magnets that are attached to the rotating shaft (A and C in the diagram). When the electromagnet is off, the magnets are free to rotate past the electromagnet (B and D in the diagram). The electromagnet is switched on and off by the reed switch. When a magnet is near the reed switch, it causes the switch to close. When the switch is closed, current flows through the wires around the electromagnet, turning it on. When the permanent magnet rotates away from the reed switch, the switch opens, shutting off current to the electromagnet. The cycle repeats continuously. There can be more than two permanent magnets on the rotating shaft. Note that the reed switch is placed somewhat below the midpoint of the rotating shaft so that the impulse given by the electromagnet occurs slightly after the permanent magnet has passed.

This design is well-suited for learning about how electric motors work because of its simplicity. The reed switch responds to nearby magnets. When a magnet gets near it, the reed switch closes. When the reed switch is closed, the electromagnet is turned on. So the magnets attached to the rotating shaft are doing double duty: they close the reed switch when they pass near it, and they respond to the push from the electromagnet when it is switched on.

The electromagnet is set up so that the side near the rotating shaft has the same polarity (north or south pole) as the side of the permanent magnet that faces out from the rotating shaft. In the kit you will buy, the permanent magnets have their south poles facing outward. The electromagnet's south pole is at the end near the rotating shaft. When two magnets are brought close to each other, opposite magnetic fields attract each other and identical magnetic fields repel each other. So when the electromagnet is turned on, it repels the magnet attached to the rotating shaft, providing the force to keep the motor working. The reed switch then opens when the permanent magnet on the opposite side of the shaft rotates away from the reed switch. With the switch open, the permanent magnet approaching the electromagnet can pass by the electromagnet with out being repelled. The cycle of opening and closing of the reed switch is timed so that the electromagnet provides a push, at just the right time, to the passing magnet on the rotating shaft, to keep the shaft spinning.

The experimental procedure is based on a kit you can buy that has all of the parts ready-made. This will allow you to make the motor and start your experiments fairly quickly. Once you have the motor working, you will test how changing the voltage affects the speed of the motor. Making the motor is one goal of this science fair project. The other goal is to determine how the voltage affects the spin rate. To do that, you will need a way to measure how fast the motor is turning. There are a number of ways to do this. The method outlined in the experimental procedure involves using an inexpensive optical tachometer. The tachometer measures the rate at which a spinning object blocks a bright light. By attaching a cardboard "propeller" to your motor, you can measure the spin rate of the rotating shaft.

Terms and Concepts

Electric motor

Direct current (DC)

DC voltage

Alternating current (AC)

Sine curve

Frequency

Hertz (Hz)

Electromagnet

Permanent magnet

Reed switch

Polarity

Tachometer

Generator

Torque

Questions

What is an electromagnet?

How does magnet wire differ from other kinds of wire?

How does the frequency of the reed switch cycle compare with the frequency of rotation of the motor shaft? (Hint: How many times does the switch open and close each time the shaft completes one full turn?)

How could a DC motor be used to generate a voltage (that is, as a generator)?

One of the variations suggests ways to determine the rotation rate by recording the motor's sound. The sound file can be analyzed using various programs. For example, the program Audacity, a free audio editor and recorder:

Winscope is a program that displays voltage changes over time. It was designed by Konstantin Zeldovich and he has distributed it as freeware. You can use Winscope to obtain the spin rate of your motor. It can be downloaded from several places on the Internet. Here are two websites:

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Optical tachometer; available from online retailers, such as Tower Hobbies at www.towerhobbies.com, model # LXPT31

Lab notebook

Graph paper

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Experimental Procedure

Note Before Beginning: This science fair project requires you to hook up
one or more devices in an electrical circuit. Basic help can be found in the
Electronics Primer. However, if you do not have experience in putting together
electrical circuits you may find it helpful to have someone who can answer questions
and help you troubleshoot if your project is not working. A science teacher or parent
may be a good resource. If you need to find another mentor, try asking a local electrician,
electrical engineer, or person whose hobbies involve building things like model
airplanes, trains, or cars. You may also need to work your way up to this project
by starting with an electronics project that has a lower level of difficulty.

This science fair project involves super glue, so first cover the work surface with newspaper.

Build the motor following the directions that come with the kit.

Figure 2. Picture of an assembled reed switch motor and the battery case.

Measuring the Motor Speed

Attach a piece of cardboard to the shaft to create your propeller. Try a 10-cm x 3-cm rectangle to begin with, but feel free to experiment with other sizes and shapes. The cardboard propeller should be free to rotate.

Put on the safety goggles. It is a good idea to wear eye protection any time you are working with rapidly spinning objects.

Add all four batteries to the battery holder (for a total of 6 V).

Use the tachometer to measure the rate of rotation.

Follow the directions that come with the tachometer.

The tachometer is sensitive to the 60 Hz (3600 cycles per minute) flicker in artificial light. Make your measurements in a room lit with sunlight.

Remember that the propeller will be counted two times for every one turn of the motor shaft.

Record the spin rate and voltage in your lab notebook.

Repeat the measurement of spin rate at 4.5 V, 3 V, and 1.5 V.

Follow the directions in the motor kit instructions to change the voltage. This involves removing batteries from the battery holder. One battery has 1.5 V, two batteries have 3 V, and 3 batteries have 4.5 V.

You can also try using a variable voltage source.

Repeat your readings so that you have data from at least three trials.

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Variations

How does adding weight (load) to the propeller affect the spin rate? How does changing the size or shape of the propeller affect its spin rate?

Devise a way to measure the torque, or twisting force, of the motor. You might try attaching a string to the motor shaft and seeing how much mass it will lift. How does changing the voltage affect the torque of the motor? (Note: look up the equation that relates torque to the radius of the shaft and the amount of weight lifted).

Use a multimeter to measure the voltage and current in the motor circuit. Most models from a hardware or auto supply store will be suitable for this project. You can also buy one online; for example, the Equus 3320 Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter, available from Amazon.com. How does the spin rate vary with the current through the circuit?

Can the motor be used as a generator? How does the spin rate affect the generated voltage?

Download Winscope and use your computer to analyze the voltage signals in your motor. This method is inexpensive, gives you very accurate readings for the rate at which the reed switch is cycling, and also provides graphic information about how the voltage varies with time. Two sites where you can download Winscope are provided in the Bibliography. You will need a wire and 3.5-mm jack that connects to your PC. The wire from an inexpensive microphone will work. What does the voltage-time curve look like?

Use a stroboscope to determine the spin rate. These tend to be quite expensive, so see if you can borrow one.

Another way to measure the spin rate is to record the motor's sound and then analyze the sound file. The sound file can be analyzed using various programs. For example, the program Audacity, a free audio editor and recorder, can be used. Audacity can be downloaded from audacity.sourceforge.net.

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Ask an Expert

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Related Links

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Electrical & Electronics Engineer

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Electrician

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